Siblings' Understanding
by Lanye
Summary: This is a oneshot of Sokka's and Katara's understanding of each others, and how it grew throughout the series.


**I don't own anything.**

* * *

She cried.

He didn't.

She yelled.

He joked.

She victimized herself.

He held himself to higher standers.

At fourteen years old, Sokka started training the little boys of the village to protect their mothers and sisters from the Fire navy, but they didn't listen to him. At fifteen, his sister started an argument after they were stuck on a piece of ice, breaking an iceberg and revealing the Avatar, a childish boy who was completely ignorant of the world. His first thought of him was that he was a danger to his sister and his tribe- Innocent intentions or not, nothing good would come from it. He was soon proved right, but it only made him regretful. Against his better judgment, he put himself and his sister in danger for the boy. Soon after, he found that his protective feelings of his sister and grown to cover the boy too.

* * *

He played soldier.

She cleaned cloths.

He complained.

She cooked.

He got over their mom's death.

She would never.

At thirteen years old, Katara still dreamed about her mom, and thought about her constantly. It nearly always made her cry. Yet she noticed Sokka never did. At fourteen, she had freed Aang and she and her brother left the South-Pole together to find a waterbending master. A lot happened between the two sides of the world, but after they made it to the northern tribe, she grew in confidence. Only for that confidence to be shattered when the Firelord's son defeated her and kidnapped Aang despite her protection. She soon found and rescued him, but needed the Firebender to be completely exhausted, be surrounded by snow, and have the full moon to do it. Yet a few days later, Aang called her Master. She didn't deserve it.

* * *

She loved everyone.

He loved those close to him.

She lived by her emotions.

He was more practical.

She was right.

He was too.

A third member joined there group. Her name was Toph, a girl around Aang's age. The second night after she joined, there was friction between her and his sister, but he ignored it. That was a mistake. The morning after they were chased through the night, Aang, the forever peacekeeping pacifistic monk, finally broke and lashed out of the girl. Only then did he try to step in salvage the situation, but he acted too late and she left. Soon, she rejoined them and things were better. Arguments were commonplace between her and his sister, but he and Aang did their best to separate and calm them. Aang usually went with Katara at these times as he was scared of the new girl, so Sokka always talked to her. And soon, his protectiveness of his sister and Aang covered her as well. He then had three younger people under his care, all out in strange lands and in a war effort. Protecting one person in the South-Pole was easier, but he was happier with three.

* * *

He laughed at childhood memories.

She actually cared.

He stubbornly insisted he was a 'warrior.'

She did things that were actually helpful.

He acted like an idiot.

Even though she knew he wasn't.

It took her until nearly the end of the war to realize that Sokka was hiding something. After the invasion plan failed, Sokka was overly cheerful and joking, but it seemed.. fake. She tried to talk to him, but he brushed her off saying that men don't overthink their feelings. That angered her with it's stupidity. Soon, the Firelord's son joined their group. At first, Sokka was the most aggressive of them, verbally assaulting and wielding his boomerang threateningly. She wished she had been the same was she was imprisoned with him. Whenever Zuko faced one of the others of the group, Sokka brought his attention back to himself, and Katara hated that. He wasn't a bender, any of the rest of them should be the ones provoking him and not her brother. But after Aang accepted the Firebender, Sokka stopped his aggression completely, joking and hanging out with him. He wasn't being consistent. She tried again to get him to open up whatever thoughts were going in his head. He just smiled and started talking about meat. She would've fallen for that before, but she knew better now. She'd grown up.

* * *

He laughed to brush aggressive feelings aside.

She cried, shouted, and threatened.

He tested Zuko verbally.

She almost attacked him.

He learned to finally trust him.

She continued hating him.

At first, Sokka hated Zuko. He hated that Zuko was within distance to hurt them, so he tried to chase him away. With his sister's help, he succeeded. But then Aang trusted him and Sokka was forced to accept him. Only he didn't. He went out of his way to irritate and get under the prince's skin, hoping for a reaction where he could prove the guy a threat. But it never happened. Despite himself, he started growing fond of the exaggerated expressions the Firebender made. The trip to the Firenation prison sealed it, causing him to trust Zuko unconditionally and really appreciate him. His sister continued blindly hating him, holding him to a past he could never change. Sokka knew that wasn't fair, but she didn't care. Soon, they left together, chasing after their mother's killer. It wasn't smart, but she still didn't care, going as far as to say that he didn't love their mother like she did. Even if it was true, it didn't make the situation any less reckless and pointless. It was a risk with nothing to be gained by taking it. After they got back, he was holding a slight grudge against both of them, but then let it go when he saw them hug and realized that there actually was a practical purpose. The reasons were flawed, but the result was good. Sokka was okay with that.

* * *

He was an idiot.

She was too.

He was too unfeeling.

She was too impractical.

So they met in the middle.

And accepted the other's role.


End file.
